After years of hard work in the gym, harder competition on the court, and the hours in the library it took to rise to the top academically, Bulldog basketball players Jeannie Buckner and Leah Wormack are readying for a new challenge – medical school.
Buckner, a forward from John’s Island, S.C., studying cell and molecular biology and minoring in neuroscience, has already gained admission to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Wormack, a center from Cumberland, Md., also has gained medical school acceptance and is in the decision-making process about next steps as she completes her undergraduate studies in biochemistry.
Sweat Equity
With stiff competition for coveted slots in medical school, gaining entry takes not just smarts, but the kind of dedication and work ethic these two Bulldog seniors exemplify.
Over her four years on the team, Buckner has developed into the Bulldogs’ leading rebounder. “I’ve definitely changed my game since I’ve been here,” she says. “It’s just been about trying to find what I can do for the team and what the team needs, and working with Omar [Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Omar Ahmad] to get stronger and better, and working with all the coaches on technique.”
Wormack, who made the Big South All-Freshman Team four years ago, has needed countless hours of rehab just to get back on the court after shoulder and knee injuries and surgery. “It’s definitely a long process, especially with the surgery I had most recently,” she says. “It’s a work in progress, every day trying to get your feel back, get strong, and then mentally being able to go for it, after a supposedly ‘career-ending’ injury. The support of my coaches and teammates have made the journey back a little easier.”
Wormack’s experience has led her to consider becoming an orthopedist. “I’ve unfortunately been very involved in the orthopedic world, but it gives you an opportunity to see that world from a different perspective. I’m also very interested in pediatrics – I love children and working with them.” Buckner has stayed relatively injury-free, but also is considering a career as an orthopedic surgeon.
The Academic Family
Both Bulldogs also received encouragement off the court from faculty members and classmates. “While we both do love the sciences,” says Wormack, “it’s definitely the faculty and the department and how they make you feel part of a little family – always willing to help you – that influences the way you go.” Chemistry Professors Bert Holmes and George Heard drew Wormack into their research and into the ‘family life’ of the department, with off-campus gatherings for students.
“When you meet the people that can help show you what you want to do and bring out the best in you, that can push you in a direction,” says Buckner. “As soon as I took the first biology class, I just fell in love with it. … Dr. Meigs [Associate Professor of Biology Ted Meigs] is my advisor and he encouraged me to major in cell biology, and I did, and loved it. Dr. Foo [Associate Professor of Psychology Patrick Foo] encouraged the neuroscience minor, and I loved that also. It was just kind of a progression and I got more and more into it.”
The Bulldog Medical Family
Both Buckner and Wormack expect the time spent working like Bulldogs in the gym and the library to help them in medical school. “I think we’ll be really ahead in the next phase of life because we’re so used to time management, prioritizing and getting everything done,” says Buckner.
That has been the case for Grace Blaylock, the former Bulldog teammate of Buckner and Wormack who graduated in 2013 with magna cum laude honors, and is now in her second year at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. The transition, she says, “has been surprisingly easier than you might think. You don’t realize how much time goes for basketball until you don’t have basketball anymore. So now I have so much extra time to read and study. Now don’t get me wrong, the academics are hard, but the time management is easier.”
Blaylock also finds time to mentor her former teammates. “I talk to Leah and Jeannie fairly frequently to monitor where they are with med school and to answer any questions they have. It can be a stressful time – I know, I’ve been there. So I check in. Being a resource is nice for them and me.”
For Blaylock who played through foot injuries her senior year here, the experience of being a student-athlete-patient was an important one. “My primary interest is orthopedics … I definitely see myself in some sort of surgical specialty. … Dr. Pam Allen, a UNC Asheville graduate who was on the women’s soccer team in the 1990s, was my orthopedic surgeon in Asheville. It was great to have a female orthopedic mentor and role model with a tie to the university.”